Sona Tau Estrada Rivera on stau.space

Eq

sona@stau.space (Sona Tau Estrada Rivera) — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 14:11:58 -0400

First, I’d like to start with a quick sentence a friend said a really long time ago while we were taking Calculus I:

A set is just its cardinality.

At first, my reaction was to dismiss that as nonsense. I mean, look at these sets: $\{1\}$, $\{2\}$. They look very different to me, but their cardinality is the same. You mean to tell me that I can uniquely identify sets by their cardinality? I’ll cut the sarcasm now; yes you can do that identification and it’s actually not that crazy.

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sona@stau.space (Sona Tau Estrada Rivera) — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 14:11:58 -0400

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The Explorer's Trial

sona@stau.space (Sona Tau Estrada Rivera) — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 08:24:15 -0400

I really like trying out new software. Between me and my friends, I’m the designated weirdo who’s always trying out strange things on my devices. This gets me stares from others, but I don’t mind:

Can’t you just use something normal? — Ran D. Ompersson

This is normal for me. — Me

Well, maybe I could use something more normal? But time has proven that there are actually a lot of really cool things people have made out there. You’ll see later what I mean about this. Many times a lot better and a lot buggier than the widely established software projects, but still really cool. Some of them have been long forgotten, dead. Some of them have been reborn, whether that is knowingly or unknowingly of the original project escapes me, but I’m certain that the motivation for doing so is out of wanting the same solution the original project sought to accomplish.

The Eight Plain Text Questions

sona@stau.space (Sona Tau Estrada Rivera) — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 10:10:57 -0400

Based off Ellane W’s based off Scott Nesbit’s Eight questions for Donald Brown.

When did you start using plain text?

High school, around 2016.

Why did you start using plain text?

I had seen a couple videos at the time about Linux, and about a week later I had been given a laptop. Like many experts in their field, I am acutely aware of all the ways in which the systems I work with can run optimally and how easily they can also break. Many software developers know and strive towards having resilient systems, built in the most elegant way possible. I used to take notes by hand in notebooks, and computers seemed very interesting to me back then. Because of this, I had a series of requirements which my writing system had to meet:

2026 New Year's Resolution

sona@stau.space (Sona Tau Estrada Rivera) — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 16:45:07 -0400

January

Deadlines long overdue, the nadir of my grades, no personal projects in the past year, a stale mind floating on the river of time, and a general feeling of distrust emanating from those around me; all of them: indicators that I had simply stopped trying.

I have also realized that in order to solve my problems, I needed to stop and think about them before acting:

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

sona@stau.space (Sona Tau Estrada Rivera) — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Studio / Year: MADHOUSE (2023)
Date Watched: 2025年12月26日

Needless to say,

HERE BE SPOILERS

Visual & Formal Language

This was animated by MADHOUSE, the framing and composition seem very standard for animes of this time period. Lots of scenic introductory shots about the world using classic framing guidelines like “the rule of thirds” and “putting the horizon at the top or bottom”.

That’s not to say that the composition wasn’t great though. For example, take a look at the following shot:

The Phoenician Scheme Critique

sona@stau.space (Sona Tau Estrada Rivera) — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The Phoenician Scheme

Director / Year: Wes Anderson (2025)
Date Watched: 2025-12-20

Visual / Formal Language

As a Wes Anderson movie. The framing was absolutely stunning. Every shot had some sort of symmetry happening in it. As if someone had animated a painting. The camera movement was basically nonexistent for the entire film. Except during the end when there was a fight scene and the camera started following the struggling faces of the characters. Other than that, there were fast movements between shots every now and then. The editing was mildly fast, and very abrupt. This makes sense since most shots were taken from a static perspective. There isn’t much movement to be done, and if the movement was absolutely necessary, then a quick cut was done to the thing that needed focus and back to the main event. The lighting and contrast was very soft. Many hot temperatured colors and pastel palettes were used for the rooms and in the outfits. The general color grading of the movie was slightly yellowish and cooled down for the climax of the movie. This adds to the feeling of the movie looking like a painting.